Writing today in the Guardian, Google’s chief legal officer David Drummond spoke to mistakes Google made in removing some links last week under the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate, as well as the difficulties in implementing the law, including naming some criteria where removals are less likely to happen.

Some Links Restored; Removal Process “Work In Progress”

From his opinion piece, about the restoration of some removals last week, Drummond wrote:

Only two months in our process is still very much a work in progress. It’s why we incorrectly removed links to some articles last week (they’ve since been reinstated). But the good news is that the ongoing, active debate that’s happening will inform the development of our principles, policies and practices � in particular about how to balance one person’s right to privacy with another’s right to know.There Is No “Journalistic Exception”

Despite the mistake in removing the links — which wasn’t explained in more depth — Drummond stressed that media outlets are not exempt from the removals (something last week that I commonly saw misreported). Publications are subject to other removals, even though Google disagrees with the concept in general as Drummond explained:

The court also decided that search engines don’t qualify for a “journalistic exception”. This means that the Guardian could have an article on its website about an individual that’s perfectly legal, but we might not legally be able to show links to it in our results when you search for that person’s name. It’s a bit like saying the book can stay in the library but cannot be included in�the�library’s card catalogue.

It’s for these reasons that we disagree with the rulingThe EU’s Removal Criteria Are “Vague & Subjective”

While also saying that Google would comply with the ruling, as it has been doing as it has processed 70,000 requests involving 250,000 web pages so far, Drummond stressed that the guidelines for removal are “vague and subjective.” From his piece:

The European court found that people have the right to ask for information to be removed from search results that include their names if it is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive”. In deciding what to remove search engines must also have regard to the public interest. These are, of course, very vague and subjective tests.Google Outlines What It’s Less Likely To Remove

Drummond also revealed the most detailed information to date about how Google is making its own decisions about what to remove:

When it comes to determining what’s in the public interest, we’re taking into account a number of factors. These include whether the information relates to a politician, celebrity or other�public figure; if the material comes from a reputable news source, and how recent it is; whether it involves political speech; questions of professional conduct that might be�relevant to consumers; the involvement of criminal convictions that are not yet “spent”; and if the information is being published by a government. But these will always be difficult and debatable judgments.

To recap those in bullet-point form, these seem to be factors that weigh against removal:

Does information involve public figures?Does information come from a reputable news source?Is the information recent?Does the information involve political speech?Does the information involve professional conduct?Does the information involve criminal convictions where time is still being served?Is the information published by a government?Advisory Group To Meet, Solicit Public Feedback This Fall

Drummond also revisited the previously announced council of expert advisors, saying that new members will be added, so that the group is finalized tomorrow. The group will ask for evidence and hold public meetings this fall, he wrote:

These external experts from the worlds of academia, the media, data protection, civil society and the tech sector are serving as independent advisers to Google. The�council will be asking for evidence and recommendations from different groups, and will hold public meetings this autumn across Europe to examine these issues more deeply.

The experts’ public report will include recommendations for particularly difficult removal requests (such as criminal convictions); thoughts on the implications of the court’s decision for European internet users, news publishers, search engines and others; and procedural steps that could improve�accountability and transparency for websites and citizens.Google Doesn’t Oppose All Removals

While stressing the need for debate and examination, Drummond didn’t reject the idea of a Right To Be Forgotten entirely, ending his post with examples that many might sympathize with:

The issues at stake here are important and difficult, but we’re committed to complying with the court’s decision. Indeed, it’s hard not to empathise with some of the requests that we’ve seen � from the man who asked that we do not�show a news article saying that he had been questioned in connection with�a crime (he’s able to demonstrate that he was never charged) to the mother who requested that we remove news articles for her daughter’s name as�she had been the victim of abuse.

Postscript: Google’s now opened a public feedback form asking for comments about the Right To Be Forgotten ruling, as well as having posted its full advisory council makeup.

With shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) trading around $43, is HAL an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Halliburton provides a range of services and products for the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services, including stimulation services and sand control services as well as cementing services comprising bonding the well and well casing, and casing equipment. The Drilling and Evaluation segment offers drill bits and services; as well as coring equipment and services; wireline and perforating services; and testing services comprising acquisition and analysis of reservoir information and optimization solutions. As consumers and business demand for energy continues to rise, companies like Halliburton are well positioned to provide products and services well into the future.

Zinco do Brasil Inc., formerly TurkPower Corporation, incorporated on November 4, 2004, has been a Turkish-American consulting and service operations firm and junior mining company. TurkPower offered its domestic and international clients consulting services and plans to act as a full service operator for wind, hydro, solar, coal and geothermal energy parks in Turkey.

In November 2011, the Company ceased all operations in Turkey. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2012 (fiscal 2012) the Company impaired its entire mining company investment.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]

Small cap mining stocks Discovery Minerals Ltd (OTCMKTS: DSCR), Zinco Do Brasil Inc (OTCMKTS: ZNBR) and Amalgamated Gold and Silver Inc (OTCMKTS: BCHS) have been getting some extra attention lately as one stock surged last Friday while the other two are or have been in the past, the subject of paid promotions. It goes without saying though that small cap mining stocks tend to be riskier than your average stock. But do these three small cap mining stocks have what it takes to produce a mother lode for investors? Here is a deeper dig into all three:

Hi Crush Partners LP, formerly Hi-Crush Partners LP, is a domestic producer of monocrystalline sand, a specialized mineral that is used as a proppant to enhance the recovery rates of hydrocarbons from oil and natural gas wells. The Company reserves consist of Northern White sand, a resource existing in Wisconsin and limited portions of the upper Midwest region of the United States. It owns, operates and develops sand reserves and related excavation and processing facilities and will seek to acquire or develop additional facilities. The Company's 561-acre facility with integrated rail infrastructure, located near Wyeville, Wisconsin, enables it to process and deliver approximately 1,600,000 tons of frac sand per year. In June 2013, Hi Crush Partners LP announced the completion of its acquisition of D&I Silica, LLC (D&I).

The Company�� frac sand production is sold to investment grade-rated pressure pumping service providers under long-term, contracts that require its customers to pay a specified price for a specified volume of frac sand each month. The Company owns and operates the Wyeville facility, which is located in Monroe County, Wisconsin and, as of December 31, 2011, contained 48.4 million tons of proven recoverable sand reserves of mesh sizes it has contracted to sell. From the Wyeville in-service date to March 31, 2012, it had processed and sold 555,250 tons of frac sand.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rick Munarriz]

Tuesday Hi-Crush Partners (NYSE: HCLP ) checks in on Tuesday. This is another high-yielding limited partnership that went public last year. Hi-Crush is a producer of monocrystalline sand that's primarily used in the fracking process.

Hot Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC), incorporated on November 9, 2009, is a petroleum product refiners, transporters and marketers in the United States. The Company operates in three segments: Refining & Marketing, Speedway and Pipeline Transportation. Marathon Petroleum�� refining, marketing and transportation operations are concentrated in the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Southeast regions of the United States. MPC has two retail brands: Speedway and Marathon. Effective as of June 30, 2011, MPC was separated from Marathon Oil Corporation (Marathon Oil) and became an independent company in a spin-off transaction.

Refining & Marketing

The Company owned and operated six refineries in the Gulf Coast and Midwest regions of the United States with an aggregate crude oil refining capacity of approximately 1.2 million barrels per calendar day as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, its refineries processed 1,177 million barrels per day of crude oil and 181 mbpd of other charge and blend stocks. Its refineries include crude oil atmospheric and vacuum distillation, fluid catalytic cracking, catalytic reforming, desulfurization and sulfur recovery units. The refineries process a range of crude oils and produce numerous refined products, ranging from transportation fuels, such as reformulated gasolines, blend-grade gasolines intended for blending with fuel ethanol and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, to heavy fuel oil and asphalt. Additionally, MPC manufacture aromatics, propane, propylene, cumene and sulfur.

The Company�� Garyville, Louisiana refinery is located along the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Garyville refinery is configured to process heavy sour crude oil into products, such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, polymer grade propylene, propane, isobutane, sulfur and fuel-grade coke. The Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery is located in northeastern Kentucky on the western bank of the Big Sandy River, near the confluence! with the Ohio River. The Catlettsburg refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, cumene, petrochemicals, propane and propylene. The Robinson, Illinois refinery is located in southeastern Illinois. The Robinson refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products, such as multiple grades of gasoline, distillates, anode-grade coke, propane, butane and propylene.

MPC�� Detroit, Michigan refinery is located near Interstate 75 in southwest Detroit. It is the petroleum refinery operating in Michigan. The Detroit refinery processes light sweet and heavy sour crude oils, including Canadian crude oils, into products, such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, slurry, propane, and propylene. Its Canton, Ohio refinery is located approximately 60 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The Canton refinery processes sweet and sour crude oils into products such as gasoline, distillates, asphalt, propane, slurry and roofing flux. Its Texas City, Texas refinery is located on the Texas Gulf Coast approximately 30 miles south of Houston, Texas. The refinery processes sweet crude oil into products such as gasoline, chemical grade propylene, propane, slurry and aromatics.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated 62 light product and 21 asphalt terminals. In addition, it distributes through approximately 52 third-party light product and 12 third-party asphalt terminals in its market area. During 2011, marine transportation operations included 15 towboats, as well as 167 owned and 14 leased barges that transport refined products on the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers and their tributaries, as well as the Intercoastal Waterway. As of December 31, 2011, the Company leased or owned approximately 1,950 railcars of various sizes and capacities for movement and storage of refined products. In addition, it own 124 transport trucks for the movement of refined products.

The Company produces propane at all six of its! refineri! es. Propane is primarily used for home heating and cooking, as a feedstock within the petrochemical industry, for grain drying and as a fuel for trucks and other vehicles. The Company is also a producer and marketer of feedstocks and specialty products. Product availability varies by refinery and includes propylene, cumene, dilute naphthalene oil, molten sulfur, toluene, benzene and xylene. Propane is primarily used for home heating and cooking, as a feedstock within the petrochemical industry, for grain drying and as a fuel for trucks and other vehicles.

Speedway

The Company sells transportation fuels and convenience products in the retail market in the Midwest, primarily through Speedway convenience stores. The Speedway segment sells gasoline and merchandise through convenience stores that the Companu owns and operates, primarily under the Speedway brand. Speedway-branded convenience stores offer a range of merchandise, such as prepared foods, beverages and non-food items, including a number of private-label items. As of December 31, 2011, Speedway had 1,371 convenience stores in seven states.

Pipeline Transportation

The Company transports crude oil and other feedstocks to our refineries and other locations, delivers refined products to wholesale and retail market areas and includes, among other transportation-related assets, a majority interest in LOOP LLC, which is the owner and operator of the United States deepwater oil port. It owns common carrier pipeline systems through Marathon Pipe Line LLC (MPL) and Ohio River Pipe Line LLC (ORPL), both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries. These pipeline systems transport crude oil and refined products, primarily in the Midwest and Gulf Coast regions, to its refineries, its terminals and other pipeline systems. The Company�� MPL and ORPL wholly owned carrier systems consist of 1,707 miles of crude oil lines and 1,825 miles of refined product lines comprising 31 systems located in 11 states, as of Decem! ber 31, 2! 011. In addition, MPL leases and operates 217 miles of common carrier refined product pipelines.

The common carrier refined product pipelines include the owned and operated Cardinal Products Pipeline and the Wabash Pipeline. The Cardinal Products Pipeline delivers refined products from Kenova, West Virginia, to Columbus, Ohio. The Wabash Pipeline system delivers refined products from Robinson, Illinois, to various terminals in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Other refined product pipelines owned and operated by MPL extend from: Robinson, Illinois to Louisville, Kentucky; Robinson, Illinois to Lima, Ohio; Wood River, Illinois to Indianapolis, Indiana; Garyville, Louisiana to Zachary, Louisiana, and Texas City, Texas to Pasadena, Texas.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had partial ownership interests in the pipeline companies that have approximately 110 miles of crude oil pipelines and 3,600 miles of refined products pipelines, including about 970 miles operated by MPL, which include Centennial Pipeline LLC (Centennial), Explorer Pipeline Company (Explorer), LOCAP LLC (LOCAP), LOOP LLC (LOOP), Muskegon Pipeline LLC (Muskegon) and Wolverine Pipe Line Company (Wolverine).

The Company holds a 50% interest in Centennial, which owns a refined products pipeline system connecting the Gulf Coast region with the Midwest market. The Company holds a 17% interest in Explorer, a refined products pipeline system extending from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest. It holds a 51% interest in LOOP, the owner and operator of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which is a deepwater oil port capable of receiving crude oil from large crude carriers, located 18 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and a crude oil pipeline connecting the port facility to storage caverns and tanks at Clovelly, Louisiana. The Company holds a 60% interest in Muskegon, which owns a refined products pipeline extending from Griffith, Indiana to North Muskegon, Michigan. It hold a 6% interest in Wolverine, a refined prod! ucts pipe! line system extending from Chicago, Illinois to Toledo, Ohio.

Refiners like Phillips 66�(PSX), Valero Energy�(VLO), Holly Frontier�(HFC), Marathon Petroleum�(MPC) and Tesoro (TSO) had a painful start to the year. The pain might be about to turn to gain, according to Barclays.

[By John Divine]

Marathon Petroleum (NYSE: MPC ) took the biggest hit, losing 4.3% as oil refiners got hammered today. Marathon's fall today, however, wasn't merely dealt a bum hand by virtue of its industry's weakness; today's slip was company-specific. While Marathon doesn't report quarterly earnings until Aug. 1, it decided to give shareholders a heads-up that things weren't going to be rosy. The company is looking for income between $570 million and $600 million, compared to $814 million profits in the year-ago period, as margins were pressured.

Hot Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Cameron International Corp (CAM)

Cameron International Corporation (Cameron), incorporated on November 10, 1994, provides flow equipment products, systems and services to worldwide oil, gas and process industries. Cameron operates in three business segments: Drilling and Production Systems (DPS), Valves & Measurement (V&M) and Process & Compression Systems (PCS). The DPS segment includes businesses, which provides systems and equipment used to control pressures and direct flows of oil and gas wells. The V&M segment includes businesses, which provides valves and measurement systems used to control, direct and measure the flow of oil and gas as they are moved from individual wellheads through flow lines, gathering lines and transmission systems to refineries, petrochemical plants and industrial centers for processing. The PCS segment includes businesses, which provides standard and custom-engineered process packages for separation and treatment of impurities within oil and gas and compression equipment and aftermarket parts and services to the oil, gas and process industries. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it acquired LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. (LeTourneau) from Joy Global Inc. During 2011, it acquired Vescon Equipamentos Industrias Ltda. During 2011, it acquired 51% interest in Newmans Valves. In September 2012, TTS Group ASA sold its drilling equipment business to the Company. Effective August 5, 2013, Cameron International Corp acquired a 75% interest in Douglas Chero SpA, from Consilium SGR SpA.

Drilling & Production Systems Segment

Cameron�� products are employed in a range of operating environments, including basic onshore fields, complex onshore and offshore environments, deepwater subsea applications and ultra-high temperature geothermal operations. The products within this segment include surface and subsea production systems, blowout preventers (BOPs), drilling and production control systems, block valves, gate valves, actuators, chokes, wellheads, manifolds, drilling risers, top drive! s, mud pumps, other rig products and aftermarket parts and services. In addition, the DPS segment designs and manufactures structural components for land and offshore drilling rigs. The segment�� businesses also manufacture elastomers, which are used in pressure and flow control equipment and other petroleum industry applications, as well as in the petroleum, petrochemical, rubber molding and plastics industries. The businesses within this segment market their products directly to end-users through a worldwide network of sales and marketing employees, supported by agents in some international locations. Customers include oil and gas majors, national oil companies, independent producers, engineering and construction companies, drilling contractors, rental companies and geothermal energy producers. The businesses included in this segment are Drilling Systems, Surface Systems, Subsea Systems and Flow Control.

Drilling Systems is a global supplier of integrated drilling systems for onshore and offshore applications. Drilling equipment designed and manufactured includes ram and annular BOPs, control systems, drilling risers, drilling valves, choke and kill manifolds, diverter systems, top drives, draw works, mud pumps, other rig products and aftermarket parts and services. The products are marketed under the Cameron, Guiberson, H&H CUSTOM, H&H, Melco, LeTourneau, Lewco, OEM and Townsend brand names. Surface Systems is a global market in supplying surface production equipment, from conventional to high-pressure, high temperature (HPHT) wellheads, production systems and controls, block valves, gate valves, mudline systems, dry completion systems and aftermarket parts and services. The products are marketed under the Cameron, Camrod, IC, McEvoy, Precision, SBS, Tundra, Willis and WKM brand names. Cameron, which has a global base of installed equipment and an aftermarket presence in hydrocarbon-producing region worldwide, is the provider of surface production equipment. Surface Systems added new s! ales and ! aftermarket facilities in the Marcellus, Eagle Ford and Haynesville shale regions.

Subsea Systems is a provider of subsea wellheads, production systems and controls, manifolds and aftermarket parts and services to customers worldwide, from basic subsea tree orders to integrated solutions, as well as installation and aftermarket support. These products are marketed under the Cameron, Mars, McEvoy and Willis brand names. Flow Control provides chokes, actuators, gears, valve accessories and automation solutions to other Cameron businesses, as well as to other industry manufacturers and directly to end users under such brand names as Cameron, Dynatorque, Ledeen, Maxtorque, Test and Willis. Flow Control has expanded its subsea chemical injection metering valve (CIMV) product line, introducing a high-flow CIMV.

Distributed Valves provides a range of valves used in the exploration, production and transportation of oil and gas, with products sold through a network of wholesalers and distributors, primarily in North America and to upstream markets in A! sia-Pacif! ic and the Middle East. These valves are marketed under the brand names Cooper, Demco, Navco, Newco, Nutron, OIC, Techno, Texstream, Thornhill Craver, Wheatley and WKM. Engineered Valves provides a range of customized ball, gate and check valves serving the oil and gas production, pipeline, subsea and liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets. Products are marketed under the brand names Cameron, Entech, Grove, Ring-O, TK and Tom Wheatley.

Process Valves provides valves under the brand names of General Valve, Orbit, TBV and WKM for use in critical service applications that are often subject to extreme temperature conditions, particularly in refinery, power generation, including nuclear, chemical, petrochemical, gas processing and liquid storage terminal markets, including liquefied natural gas (LNG). Measurement Systems designs, manufactures and distributes measurement products, systems and solutions to the global oil and gas, process and power industries. The Company�� main product brand names include Barton, Caldon, Clif Mock, Jiskoot, Linco, Nuflo and PAAI. Aftermarket Services provides preventative maintenance, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) spare parts, repair, field service, asset management and remanufactured products for valves and actuators.

Reciprocating Compression equipment is used throughout the energy industry by gas transmission companies, compression leasing companies, oil and gas producers and independent power producers. Reciprocating Compression products and services are marketed under the Ajax, Cooper-Bessemer, CSI, Enterprise, Superior, Texcentric and TSI brand names. Ajax integral engine-compressors, which combine the engine and compressor on a single drive shaft, are used for gas re-injection and storage, as well as on smaller gathering and transmission lines. Superior-brand separable compressors are used for natural gas applications, including production, storage, withdrawal, processing and transmission, as well as petrochemical processing. These high-speed separable compressor units can be matched with either natural gas engine drivers or electric motors. Reciprocating Compression also provides global support for its products and maintains sales and service offices in key international locations. During 2011, approximately 60% of the Reciprocating Compression revenues were generated by sales of aftermarket parts and services in support of the Company�� worldwide installed base of compression equipment. Customers for Reciprocating Compression products include oil and gas majors, national oil companies, petrochemical and re! fining co! mpanies, midstream natural gas companies, independent power producers and compressed natural gas distribution companies.

Centrifugal Compression manufactures and supplies integrally geared centrifugal compressors and provides aftermarket services to customers worldwide. Centrifugal air compressors, used in manufacturing processes (plant air), are sold under the Turbo-Air. Engineered compressors are used in the process air and gas industries and are identified by the MSG. The process and plant air centrifugal compressors deliver oil-free compressed air and other gases to customers, thus preventing oil contamination of the finished products. Centrifugal Compression also provides installation and maintenance services, parts, repairs, overhauls and upgrades to its worldwide customers for plant air and process gas compressors. It also provides aftermarket service and repairs on all equipment it produces through a worldwide network of distributors, service centers and field service technicians utilizing an extensive inventory of parts marketed under the Joy brand name. Centrifugal Compression customers include oil and gas majors, national oil companies, air separation companies, independent power producers, petrochemical and refining companies, midstream natural gas companies and durable goods manufacturers.

Why is there such a disconnect between oil and gasoline prices? Despite the fact that oil and gasoline make just about everything go and demand has been steadily rising for decades now, oil production has had difficulty keeping pace. And since 2005 most production growth has come from the increased exploitation of shale formations and hydraulic fracturing.

Since 2005, global production of crude oil has grown by 2.3 million barrels per day (MBPD) and over that same time period U.S. production of shale oil has grown by 3.5 MBPD. Not only is the U.S. essentially responsible for all the production global production growth since 2005, it has also made up from 1.2 MPBD of lost production elsewhere in the world.

While the gasoline price spike since October can be largely attributed to seasonal factors ��traveling increases in the holiday and summer seasons ��tight global oil production could result in higher gasoline prices becoming a fact of life. Here in the U.S. nearly 75 percent of the oil we consume goes to transportation and higher gasoline and other distillate prices are the only effect mechanism for rationing it.

That pricing mechanism, coupled with rapid advancements in drilling technologies and know-how, has also made it economical to produce once-untouchable oil reserves, such as those in deepwater or in shale formations and oil sands. It has also driven a huge push to increase global oil production in the coming years and created an opportunity to not only profit from the energy boom but also hedge your portfolio against the damaging impact of energy inflation.

One interesting play on that theme is Cameron International (NYSE: CAM). Cameron provides separation and pressure control equipment, flow control, compressors, valves and other equipment to the global energy industry, as well as the services to install and maintain it. About 20 percent of its $2.4 billion in first quarter revenue was generated through equipment and serv

[By Isac Simon]

However, Houston-based Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) , a competitor of National Oilwell Varco, seems to hold a lot of promise. The company provides flow equipment systems and services to operators globally. Its stock has risen 50% in the past 12 months.

Hot Energy Companies To Own In Right Now: Forum Energy Technologies Inc (FET)

Forum Energy Technologies, Inc. incorporated on May 10, 2005, is an oilfield products company, serving the subsea, drilling, completion, production and infrastructure sectors of the oil and natural gas industry. The Company designs and manufactures products, and engage in aftermarket services, parts supply and related services that complement its product offering. It operates in two segments: Drilling and Subsea Segment and Production and Infrastructure Segment. In December 2012, the Company acquired Merrimac Manufacturing, Inc. (Merrimac). In May 2013, the Company acquired Blohm + Voss Oil Tools from STAR Capital Partners Limited. In July 2013, Forum Energy Technologies Inc acquired Moffat 2000 Ltd.

Drilling and Subsea Segment

The Company designs and manufactures products and provides related services to the drilling, well construction, completion, intervention and subsea construction and services markets. Through this segment, it offers Subsea Technologies, including robotic vehicles and other capital equipment, specialty components and tooling, a range of complementary subsea technical services and rental items, and applied products for subsea pipelines. It offers Drilling Technologies which include capital equipment and a range of products consumed in the drilling and well intervention process. It offers Downhole Technologies, including cementing and casing tools, completion products, and a range of downhole protection solutions.

The Company designs and manufactures subsea capital equipment; specialty components and tooling; and applied products for subsea pipelines; and it also provides a suite of complementary subsea technical services and rental items. It has a core focus on the design and manufacture of unmanned submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), as well as other specialty subsea vehicles. The Company�� brands include its Perry and Sub-Atlantic vehicle brands. Its related technical services complement its vehicle offering by providing the m! arket with a selection of critical product solutions and rental items that enhance its customers��ability to operate in harsh subsea environments. The market for subsea ROVs can be segmented into three classes of vehicles based on size and category of operations: large work-class vehicles for subsea construction activities; drilling-class vehicles for use around an offshore rig, and observation-class vehicles for inspection and light manipulation. The Company is a provider of work-class and observation-class vehicles.

The Company manufactures ROV components, such as a range of Sub-Atlantic branded ROV thrusters. It designs and manufactures thrusters for incorporation into its own vehicles, as well for sale to other ROV manufacturers. It also designs and manufactures a tether management system (TMS). It also provides a suite of subsea tooling, both industry standard and custom designed for subsea applications. Industry standard tooling includes hot stabs, cable cutters, torque tools and indicators.

The vehicle-related subsea products, its Offshore Joint Services (OJS) brand is a provider of applied protective coatings on rigid subsea pipeline field joints, spools, and structures. Its VisualSoft product line provides another related technical product that reinforces in subsea vehicles and products. It sells or rents VisualWorks and VisualDVR Digital Video Systems that provide a solution for digital video capture, playback, processing and reporting of pipeline, structural or other inspection survey data. These products are often used in conjunction with the operation of inspection class ROVs or diving personnel when conducting survey work.

Geoscience Earth and Marine Science (GEMS) is its geophysical and geotechnical engineering group that provides consulting services to the oil and gas, and marine industries. It provides an interpretation service based on the analysis of third party subsea data provided by clients. The business has broadened into managing every p! hase of p! roject development, including scope of work, liaising with data acquirers, interpretation and analysis. Its primary customer base consists of oil and gas operator producers.

The Company provides both drilling consumables and capital equipment, including powered and manual tubular handling equipment, specialized torque equipment, customized offline crane systems, drilling data acquisition management systems, pumps, valves, manifolds, drilling fluid-end components, pressure control equipment for both coiled tubing and wireline well intervention operations and a broad line of items consumed in the drilling process. The Company has a core focus on products that enhance its customers��handling of tubulars on the drilling rig.

The Company designs and manufactures specialized torque equipment and related control systems for tubular connections, including high torque stroking, or bucking, units, fully rotational torque units, portable torque units for field deployment. In addition the Company designs and manufactures a range of rig-based offline activity cranes, multi-purpose cranes and personnel transfer solutions.

The Company�� pressure control products used for well intervention operations are sold directly to oilfield service companies and equipment rental companies. These products include both coiled tubing and wireline blowout preventers and their accessories. It also conduct aftermarket refurbishment and recertification services for pressure control equipment. The Company also designs and manufactures a range of consumable parts for pumps on drilling rigs, well servicing rigs, pressure pumping units, and hydraulic fracturing systems, along with top drive parts. The Company also manufacture data acquisition products that include integrated drill floor instrumentation and monitoring systems. These systems provide real-time monitoring and logging of drilling data to drilling contractors and oil and gas producers on the rig and at remote locations.

! The Compa! ny manufacture a broad line of downhole products that are consumed during the well construction, completion and production enhancement process. Through its Davis-Lynch downhole well construction and completion tools product line, it designs and manufactures products used in the construction of oil and gas wells. It designs and manufactures a range of centralizers, float equipment, stage cementing tools, inflatable packers, flotation collars, cementing plugs, fill and circulation tools for running casing, casing hangers and surge reduction equipment.

The Company manufactures a line of downhole completion tools, including composite plugs and wireline flow-control products. Its composite plugs are primarily used for zonal isolation during multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal and vertical wells. It offers l range of downhole protection solutions.

Production and Infrastructure Segment

The Company designs and manufactures products and provide related equipment and services to the well stimulation, completion, production and infrastructure markets. Through this segment, the Company suppllies Flow Equipment, including well stimulation consumable products and related recertification and refurbishment services; Production Equipment, including well site production equipment, process equipment and specialty pipeline construction equipment; and Valve Solutions, which includes a range of industrial and process valves.

The Company provides a range of high pressure flow equipment used by well stimulation, or pressure pumping, companies during the stimulation, intervention and flowback process. It focuses on consumable products that experience high rates of wear and replacement. The Company designs and manufactures pressure control plug, choke and relief valves, swivel joints, pup joints and integral fittings, manifolds and manifold trailers, as well as triplex and quintuplex fluid-end assemblies.

The Company surface Production Equipment product line p! rovides e! ngineered process systems and field services for capital equipment used at the wellsite, for production processing, and at the refinery. It serves the upstream, midstream and downstream segments in oil and gas production equipment and services. The Company engineers fabricates and installs tanks, separators, packaged production systems and American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and American Petroleum Institute (API) coded and non-coded pressure vessels, skidded vessels with gas measurement, modular process plants, header and manifold skids, process and flow control equipment and separators to help clean and process oil or gas as it travels from the wellhead and along the transmission line to the refinery.

The Company design, manufacture and provide a wide range of industrial valves that principally serve the upstream, midstream and downstream markets of the oil and gas industry. In addition its valve solutions serve general industrial, power and process industry customers as well as the mining industry. It also provides ball, gate, globe, check and butterfly valves across a range of sizes and applications.

The Company competes with Cameron International Corporation and FMC Technologies, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]

Another issue that Varco has to face is the specter of increasing competition. Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) has arisen as a big player in the drilling and production systems space, with a particular emphasis on subsea applications like blowout preventers. With Cameron sporting a recent partnership with Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) , the combination will have both the expertise and the financial resources to challenge Varco in that niche. More broadly, up-and-coming Forum Energy (NYSE: FET ) has sought to emulate Varco's broad-based services menu, offering remotely operated vehicles for deepwater inspection and construction as well as pipe and cementing materials and a range of subsea systems and equipment. Forum has posted solid results in its brief history, taking steps to continue its fast growth trajectory.

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Daniel Gibbs]

The consumption of oil worldwide isn't going�anywhere anytime soon, so the activities of oil companies in these areas must increase as more conventional fields steadily decline. As the oil companies steadily increase their activities in the offshore space, particularly in ultra-deepwater areas, contractors will be forced to construct more rigs. They will thus require equipment produced by National Oilwell Varco and its peers Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) .

This could get interesting. Last month, we saw Google running a test that ranked product listing ads (PLAs) by ratings and reviews in search results. Now, a new test groups and ranks products by price.

In the screenshot below, provided by CPC Strategy, PLAs are grouped in two pricing stacks — one� for “Up to $30″ and a second for “Over $30.” The products in the first group are shown in order by price. Oddly, there is one outlier in the second group — the $36.95 sandal from Nordstrom is listed after two higher priced shoes from Keen.

This test could obviously have a big impact on pricing strategies for e-commerce advertisers. Monitoring could also be cumbersome if the pricing cut-offs range by search result and/or product type.

For each of these requests, we�re required to weigh, on a case-by-case basis, an individual�s right to be forgotten with the public�s right to know.

We want to strike this balance right. This obligation is a new and difficult challenge for us, and we�re seeking advice on the principles Google ought to apply when making decisions on individual cases. That�s why we�re convening a council of experts.

We�re just getting started, but during this process we also want to hear your input, too — this is all about your rights online, and the Internet provides an incredible forum for discussion and debate.

On the same page where the form is, Google also explains the final make-up of the advisory committee is announced last month. It will be:

This could get interesting. Last month, we saw Google running a test that ranked product listing ads (PLAs) by ratings and reviews in search results. Now, a new test groups and ranks products by price.

In the screenshot below, provided by CPC Strategy, PLAs are grouped in two pricing stacks — one� for “Up to $30″ and a second for “Over $30.” The products in the first group are shown in order by price. Oddly, there is one outlier in the second group — the $36.95 sandal from Nordstrom is listed after two higher priced shoes from Keen.

This test could obviously have a big impact on pricing strategies for e-commerce advertisers. Monitoring could also be cumbersome if the pricing cut-offs range by search result and/or product type.

For each of these requests, we�re required to weigh, on a case-by-case basis, an individual�s right to be forgotten with the public�s right to know.

We want to strike this balance right. This obligation is a new and difficult challenge for us, and we�re seeking advice on the principles Google ought to apply when making decisions on individual cases. That�s why we�re convening a council of experts.

We�re just getting started, but during this process we also want to hear your input, too — this is all about your rights online, and the Internet provides an incredible forum for discussion and debate.

On the same page where the form is, Google also explains the final make-up of the advisory committee is announced last month. It will be:

Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA) with its subsidiaries is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of carbonated soft drinks, still and mineral waters, fruit juices, coffee and other alcohol-free beverages. CCA operates in four business segments: The Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, and Indonesia and PNG segments. CCA is also engaged in the processing and marketing of fruits, vegetables and other food products, and the manufacture and distribution of alcohol ready-to-drink products, and the distribution of premium spirits and beer brands. The Companys principal operations are in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). On January 13, 2012, the sale of CCAs 50% interest in Pacific Beverages to SABMiller was completed. On February 21, 2011, the Company acquired Vending business, a non-alcohol beverage in Australia. On September 7, 2012, CCA acquired an 89.6% shareholding in Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd (Paradise Beverages). Advisors' Opinion:

[By MARKETWATCH]

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks rose modestly in early Tuesday trade, with the market reacting to a mixed batch of earnings. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) added 0.2% to 5,391.80, with BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) rising 1.7% after its July-December profit almost doubled from a year earlier, beating forecasts. However, smaller rival Arrium Ltd. (AU:ARI) (ARRMF) added 2.5% after reporting a swing back to profit. Other miners got a bump up from rising commodity prices, as Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) ! gained 2.3% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) added 1.2%, though Oz Minerals Ltd. (AU:OZL) (OZMLF) slipped 0.4%. Shares of Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. (AU:CCL) (CCLAF) slumped 5.1% after the drinks firm saw a more than 80% drop in 2013 profit, weighed by a writedown on its fruit-processing business. Packaging firm Amcor Ltd. (AU:AMC) (AMCRF) lost 4.6% after its fiscal-first-half profit fell by about a third.

With 35.6 Million Tweets, Germany�s 7-1 #WorldCup Win Over Brazil Sets A New Twitter Record [STATS] -�Tuesday, in a match that will be remembered for a long time and likely take the host nation (and its ardent fans) years to recover from, Germany humiliated a Sunday league-esque Brazil side 7-1 in the World Cup semi finals. AllTwitter

How To Be in the Top 5% of Bloggers [Survey] -�Orbit Media Studios conducted a survey of more than 1,000 bloggers to better understand the processes of industry experts. Respondents answered questions about time spent on a typical post, frequency, editing, promotional tactics and more. Orbit Media Studios

500 Writers & Editors Reveal What They Look for in a Pitch -�In this BuzzStream SlideShare, Ryan McGonagill & Kelsey Libert share the results of their Perfect Pitches survey. Ryan and Kelsey reached out to more than 500 editors at publications like Time, BuzzFeed, Upworthy, and more, and asked them what they look for in a pitch. BuzzStream

32% Of B2B Marketers Want Automated Social Media Integration [STUDY] -�The automation of digital content is an essential tool for all marketers, but particularly those in the business to business (B2B) sector, where delivering the right message to the right lead at the right time can mean the difference between success and failure. AllTwitter

Google�s New AdWords Editor Version Offers Shopping Campaigns Support, More Display Targeting Options -�Roughly a month ahead of the rollover to Shopping Campaigns, Google has released a new version of AdWords Editor that supports the new campaign type. Google announced the old style of PLA campaigns will be shut down at some point in late August. Search Engine Land

STUDY: Facebook bouncing back in social logins, with help from anonymous login - After six straight quarters of falling behind in the social login sphere, Facebook has bounced back to take over the top spot. According to Janrain, Facebook overtook Google and LinkedIn as the most popular choice on B2B sites, posting a 1.5 percent gain and re-claiming a lead it lost in Q1 2014 after holding it throughout 2012 and 2013. It also extended its lead on media and retail sites. Inside Facebook

Experiment Shows Up To 60% Of �Direct� Traffic Is Actually Organic Search -�Everyone knows that browsers don�t always report where visitors came from when they arrive at a website. When they don�t report where they were in the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) referrer header, often the traffic is considered �Direct� � which really means, �we have no clue where they came from, maybe they typed the URL in or hit a bookmark.� Search Engine Land

Too Much Twitter Can Be Bad For Your Marriage, Sex Life, Says Research [STUDY] - �Heavy Twitter use can have a negative impact on both your marriage and sex life, says a new study. The survey, which has been documented in the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking journal by the University Of Missouri, asked 581 active Twitter users to report how often they used the platform and if any conflicts arose with current or former partners as a result of this usage. AllTwitter

Facebook Responds To Flak Over Study That Tinkered With Users� News Feeds -�Facebook has caught a lot of flak for a recent study by social scientists from the social network, Cornell University, and the University of California-San Francisco, in which the researchers randomly selected 689,003 Facebook users and tinkered with the number of positive or negative stories that appeared in their News Feeds to gauge the results of those users� moods. AllFacebook

Influential Twitter Accounts Indexed More in Google [Research] -�Stone Temple Consulting put out findings of research it conducted on the indexation of tweets in Google. What it found was that indexation was low overall, but that influential Twitter accounts with specific types of tweets tended to be indexed more. �Search Engine Watch

Socialbakers June U.S. report: response rate slipping on Facebook -�Though T-Mobile is once again the most socially devoted Facebook brand in the U.S., overall response rate from brands dipped by 10 percent over the past month, according to a report by Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer Socialbakers. Inside Facebook

Google Releases AdWords Editor Version 10.5 - Earlier this week,�an announcement was made on Google+ that AdWords Editor version 10.5 is now available. The latest version allows users to download product groups, upload and check changes, make bulk edits, and perform other time-saving tasks across Shopping campaigns, online and offline. Search Engine Journal

From our Online Marketing Community:

From�Attract, Engage, Convert � How to Better Measure and Optimize Content Marketing Performance, �Frank J. Kenny said,�Excellent piece Lee. I like to think of the top of the funnel as creating awareness by delivering value and storytelling. Then, it’s about relationship building (my clients are small and medium businesses. I know this doesn’t always scale but it does for my target market). Then comes conversion, either what I call organic (It is easy to buy) or digital marketing (copywriting skills, CTA’s, guarantees, scarcity, etc.). Then you have customer and tribe relationship management (actually throughout the funnel), leading to word of mouth, repeat purchases, etc.”

General Motors (GM) recently garnered headlines after investor Warren Buffett's recent 13F filing showed that he purchased 15 million shares of GM during Q2 2013. At the end of the quarter, he owned 40 million shares. This increase of 60% sparked my interest in the company. Also, Harris Associates bought 51.9 million shares in Q2. After researching the company, GM shares are undervalued when compared to their main rival, Ford (F). Also, there are upcoming catalysts for the company that should result in revaluation - new models gaining recognition, sales improvements based on vast improvements in quality, an improving European economy, and an end to the US Treasury, UAW, and Canadian government liquidation of their stake in the company. In particular, I think the conclusion of the treasury sales of GM stock is an under-appreciated catalyst given the performance of companies in similar situations in the past.

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Monica Gerson]

Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.03 per share on revenue of $623.34 million.

Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.12 per share on revenue of $779.02 million.

Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Dow Chemical Co.(DOW), Tupperware Brands Corp.(TUP) and Yahoo Inc.(YHOO)

[By Eric Volkman]

Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP ) is reaching into its corporate bowl for a fresh payout to shareholders. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share. This will be paid on July 8 to stockholders of record as of June 19. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution, which was paid in early April. Prior to that, Tupperware Brands was rather less generous, handing out $0.36 per share.

Caterpillar Inc. manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives worldwide. It operates through three lines of businesses: Machinery, Engines, and Financial Products. The Machinery business offers construction, mining, and forestry machinery, including track and wheel tractors, track and wheel loaders, pipelayers, motor graders, wheel tractor-scrapers, track and wheel excavators, backhoe loaders, log skidders, log loaders, off-highway trucks, articulated trucks, paving products, skid steer loaders, underground mining equipment, tunnel boring equipment, and related parts. It also manufactures diesel-electric locomotives; and manufactures and services rail-related products and logistics services for other companies. The Engines business provides diesel, heavy fuel, and natural gas reciprocating engines for Caterpillar machinery, electric power generation systems, marine, petrol eum, construction, industrial, agricultural, and other applications. It offers industrial turbines and turbine-related services for oil and gas, and power generation applications. This business also remanufactures Caterpillar engines, machines, and engine components; and offers remanufacturing services for other companies. The Financial Products business provides retail and wholesale financing alternatives for Caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, and other equipment and marine vessels, as well as offers loans and various forms of insurance to customers and dealers. It also offers financing for vehicles, power generation facilities, and marine vessels. The company markets its products directly, as well as through its distribution centers, dealers, and distributors. It was formerly known as Caterpillar Tractor Co. and changed its name to Caterpillar Inc. in 1986. Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 and is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

Susan Walsh/APSen. Carl Levin of Michigan. WASHINGTON -- Caterpillar executives defended a tax strategy Tuesday that has saved the manufacturing giant billions in U.S. taxes. They got support from Republican senators, including one who said the company deserves an award. Caterpillar (CAT) has avoided paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since 2000 by shifting profits to a wholly-controlled affiliate in Switzerland, according to a report released by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin chairs the Senate investigations subcommittee. On Tuesday, Levin grilled Caterpillar executives and their accountants at a hearing on the company's tax strategy. "Caterpillar is an American success story that produces iconic industrial machines," Levin said. "But it is also a member of the corporate profit-shifting club that has transferred billions of dollars offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes." Julie Lagacy, a Caterpillar vice president, was adamant that the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer follows all tax laws. "We pay everything we owe," she told the subcommittee. Caterpillar got support from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who questioned why the subcommittee was even holding the hearing. "I think rather than having an inquisition, we should probably bring Caterpillar here and give them an award," Paul said. "You know, they've been in business for over 100 years. It's not easy to stay in business." Paul said Caterpillar and its accountants have an obligation to shareholders to minimize their taxes. "It is a requirement that you try to minimize your costs. So rather than chastising Caterpillar we should be complimenting them," Paul said. Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, with sales and revenues last year of nearly $56 billion. The company says it has increased U.S. employment by 13,000 jobs since 1999, growing to nearly 52,000 workers last year. The company says it has 118,000 employees in 21 countries. In the U.S., it has 69 ma

[By GuruFocus] l Gates added to his holdings in Caterpillar Inc by 4.65%. His purchase prices were between $82.12 and $91.15, with an estimated average price of $85.32. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.23%. His holdings were 11,260,857 shares as of 12/31/2013.

Added: Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)

Bill Gates added to his holdings in Wal-Mart Stores Inc by 4.5%. His purchase prices were between $71.87 and $81.21, with an estimated average price of $77.52. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.2%. His holdings were 11,603,000 shares as of 12/31/2013.

Sold Out: Procter & Gamble Co (PG)

Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Procter & Gamble Co. His sale prices were between $75.65 and $85.41, with an estimated average price of $81.56.

Sold Out: Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD)

Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Air Products & Chemicals Inc. His sale prices were between $102.58 and $113.66, with an estimated average price of $108.95.

Sold Out: Toyota Motor Corp (TM)

Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Toyota Motor Corp. His sale prices were between $118.61 and $131.65, with an estimated average price of $125.74.

Sold Out: Diamond Foods, Inc. (DMND)

Bill Gates sold out his holdings in Diamond Foods, Inc.. His sale prices were between $20.78 and $26.05, with an estimated average price of $23.92.

Dollar Tree, Inc. operates discount variety stores in the United States and Canada. Its stores offer merchandise primarily at the fixed price of $1.00. The company operates its stores under the names of Dollar Tree, Deal$, Dollar Tree Deal$, Dollar Giant, and Dollar Bills. Its stores offer consumable merchandise, including candy and food, and health and beauty care, as well as household consumables, such as paper, plastics, household chemicals, in select stores, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise, which includes toys, durable housewares, gifts, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, and other items; and seasonal goods, such as Easter, Halloween, and Christmas merchandise. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 4,089 stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 88 stores in Canada. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rising Dividend Investing]

Falling Stock Correlation: What It Says About Consumer Spending

As we mentioned in the Take Aways from the August 26th Investment Policy Committee meeting, the correlation index has been steadily declining. In 2008-09, macroeconomic events drove nearly every stock downwards. Specific sectors and stocks moved in tandem with one another. Today, stocks and sub-industries within each sector are performing very differently – which indicates a return to a more normal stock market environment. The Consumer Discretionary (also known as Consumer Cyclicals) sector is an example of an industry that has been rewarded for its fundamental success over the past 12 months. As a whole, the sector grew sales 6.1% and earnings 9.2% in the second quarter - much better than the 1.4% sales and 3.3% earnings growth of the S&P 500. While the overall sector did well in the second quarter, the table below shows how differently the 5 sub-categories of Consumer Discretionary performed:

(click to enlarge) As we drill down even further, sub-categories of sub-sectors differ even more dramatically. Below is a snapshot of the Retailing sub-sector and its notable components:

(click to enlarge) Specific stocks within each sub-category are varying in performance as well. General Merchandise retailers were significantly differentiated in the second quarter. Target’s (TGT) adjusted EPS were up 6.1% from 2012, while Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree’s (DLTR) earnings were up nearly 12% and 9%, respectively. The differences in sales and earnings growth amongst these different industries tell a story. The economy is not improving enough that people feel like they can let go and spend money on pure pleasures, but it is improving enough that they can afford to replace their cars and fix the doors on their houses. As these items wear out and need to be replaced, we expect the pent up demand will drive increased economic activity from cons

[By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]

Costly market share gainsThe problem is that Family Dollar has had to pay up for its increasing market share and sales levels. The company's gross profit margin fell by more than a full percentage point, to 34.7% last quarter. In contrast, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR ) booked an expansion of profits, to 35.2%, continuing a trend that's seen it pull away from Family Dollar.

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Holly LaFon]

Schlumberger (SLB) was a top performer during the quarter, continuing its strong performance since the summer of 2012. Since late June 2012 (6/22) through mid-颅��April 2014, the stock (a holding since late September 2011) is up approximately 60% -颅��nearly double the S&P 500 Index's gain of 36%. Schlumberger continues to do what it does best ��dominate their respective industry and generate industry-颅��leading growth and cash flow generation. The Company is a leading global provider of oil services. At the risk of repeating an oil service industry clich茅, "the easy oil has been found." The technological development being brought to bear to the extremes and complexities in the exploration and development of hydrocarbon energy is relentless. The Company's depth and breadth of their integrated products and services has been at the forefront of the unceasing progress of energy services for decades. Indeed, according to the Company, over the past decade, total E&P capital expenditures have increased by 400%, yet global oil production is up only a scant 15%. Furthermore, in just the last three years, the upstream E&P industry has spent on average $600 billion per year yielding only a net increase in global oil production coming from the shale deposits in North American. Due to the significant advancements in horizontal drilling and multistage fracking natural gas prices are generally one-颅��hird of what they are in Europe or Asia. This differential has had 2 profound implications, for instance in the U.S. chemical industry. Chevron Phillips just this month broke ground on a $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Texas ��the first petrochemical refinery built in the U.S. in twenty-颅��ive years. Circa-颅��014 finds the Company at the cutting edge in the continued search for unconventional oil and gas, plus in the environmentally challenging area in offshore and deepwater. The Company continues to enhance their capabilities, scale and integra

[By Daniel Gibbs]

The consumption of oil worldwide isn't going�anywhere anytime soon, so the activities of oil companies in these areas must increase as more conventional fields steadily decline. As the oil companies steadily increase their activities in the offshore space, particularly in ultra-deepwater areas, contractors will be forced to construct more rigs. They will thus require equipment produced by National Oilwell Varco and its peers Cameron International (NYSE: CAM ) and Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB ) .

The influence of search on content beyond Google, Bing and Yahoo is pretty amazing. Just think of all the social media monitoring platforms that have launched – they’re all essentially search engines.

Another category of online tool that relies on search are content discovery tools (just like Google is a content discovery tool). �Except this category of content discovery weights content shared on social media channels more heavily and often provides the ability to organize and flavor search results based on an analysis of what your own social networks are posting and sharing links to.

Real-Time content discovery tools are handy for a number of reasons, namely being able to identify upward trending content aligned with topics or entities you are tracking. The idea is that if you can be part of sharing upward trending content early and even add to the conversation, you can capture the draft of that upward swing in attention – reaching new audiences and better connecting with those you are already engaged with.

There are a number of tools including Google itself that are useful for surfacing this kind of content. Content curation tools are certainly an option and so are some social search and social media monitoring tools. Everyone wants a piece of the action that will provide a fast track to content popularity.

Here’s a growing list of real time content discovery tools and content recommendation platforms that you might find useful whether you’re an independent consultant or a marketing leader at a Fortune 500 company:

Buffer - Within the Buffer dashboard there is a new, free feature that suggests stories which you can filter by: buffer picks, marketing, inspiration, business & startups, lifehacking and design.

Realtime by Bitly – Tapping in to all the links shortened by the bitly service, rt.ly offers free access to full search by keywords,�topics, networks, location, domain names, and language. The option to “create a story with this search” reveals interesting graphs of�aggregate data for a group of related links that are about the same thing, and, together, comprise what we refer to as a story.

HootSuite Suggested – A feature in beta with HootSuite’s Publisher feature includes suggested�stories that you can either schedule directly through HootSuite or remove them.

Sulia – With a trial account, you can connect with LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter or Facebook and then pick trusted sources. Based on it’s analysis, suggested topics become part of the navigation to discover stories. Content from trusted sources as well as those with the most stories, views, most engaging and other story suggestions are presented. You can also search. Each story offers the option of clicking “trust” to further filter your preferences. Your profile shows what topics other users trust you most about, which is an interesting view of how people see you.

Spike- A free tool that offers topics, places, timeframes and open search as well as watch lists to track specific stories. With each story recommended, you can see how it’s doing on Twitter and Facebook. You can also get email alerts. Interestingly, there is a “pre-viral” category as well.

inPowered – Free and paid versions. Surfaces topics, experts, offers date range options, shows reads and shares trending of the search topic over time and if you register for a free account, some measurement data. The free version offers limited view of these data but still useful. You can share stories from within inPowered to your own networks or amplify stories across the web, social and mobile using inPowered.

Prismatic – A free tool that taps in to your Twitter and/or Facebook network to surface stories of interest. Stories are recommended based on your indicated interests, Twitter or Facebook connections and content. You can view globally popular stories and those that are popular on social networks. You can explore content from “friends”, topics from your own social shares, popular content from your friends and other recommended topics. You can also search by interests, people and publishers.

bottlenose- The Personal or “Lite” version is free�and offers many useful features. Connect your Twitter account and get “News” including top links, trending topics, trending people and recent comments. Of course there’s also a paid version. You can track specific RSS feeds showing latest posts and a visual representation of content from the feed which displays the velocity of trending topics. The search will reveal matching, trending stories from across your social networks. The recent comments search results feature is particularly useful for finding opportunities to engage.

Sailthru - This is a�tool�for publishers,�nothing free, that syndicates content from the web to your website based on preferences of your users. It’s essentially a content personalization platform (among other things) to make sure the kind of content your publishing meets the interests of your audience. The site explains this as: “We help�combine demographic, behavioral, and contextual based profiles to form a more robust understanding of each individual consumer, so that product recommendations or content recommendations are personalized across all of your channels.”

Visual Revenue – An�enterprise paid only tool for publishers, this platform�provides a real-time analytics solution that is designed specifically to enhance the hand of editors in data driven newsrooms. Not only does it recommend content, but supports instant headline and image testing,�social reporting, performance, recommendations, and automation. As more companies mature their own brand publishing initiatives, the demand by brand publishers for this type of enterprise tool used by the media�publishing industry is going to increase.

Of course there are more tools in this category and I’d love to know what you would add. This list is a great starting point offering free to more sophisticated real-time content discovery. Of course you can still use search.twitter.com and even Google results filtered by the last 24 hours or Google News as well. It’s a matter of preference and aligning the right tool with how you’re going to use the stories that you discover.

What would you add to this list? What has been your experience with real-time content discovery tools? Good or bad, we want to know.

Filmmakers behind “America: Imagine the World Without Her” have accused�Google of keeping their movie’s showtimes and locations from appearing in search results.

As it�turns out, “America” isn’t the only film not getting fair play from the search engine.

Based on our research, if there is a conspiracy theory at work — it’s not exclusive to D’Souza’s “America.” Google doesn’t appear to be a fan of The Four Seasons or evil, either. That’s because after searching the top ten box office movie titles from last weekend, neither “Jersey Boys” nor “Deliver Us from Evil” returned movie showtimes.

Also, to find showtimes on Google for the latest Transformers movie, the search required the full title: “Transformers: Age of Extinction” versus a simple one-word search for “Transformers.”

Bing, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be as harsh of a movie critic. When searching movie titles for last weekend’s box office hits on Microsoft’s search engine, showtimes displayed within, at least, the top three search results for all ten movies and “America” via www.MSN.com/movies.

Searching Movie Showtimes: Bing versus Google

According to our findings, it’s fair to assume that Google’s not so much trying to keep “America” showtimes out of search results, and probably doesn’t hate the Four Seasons or any movie based on the band’s music.

Google just isn’t as strong as Bing when it comes to movie showtime searches, scoring a 70 percent accuracy rate, compared to Bing, which earned a 100 percent when it came to providing showtimes for the top ten films currently at the box office.

Yelp has been an increasingly vocal critic of Google for several years. Now it has joined a group of companies opposing the European Commission’s current antitrust settlement proposal with Google.

Originally Google and Yelp were partners. Google unsuccessfully tried to buy Yelp for a rumored $500 million a year or so before the company went public. Later Yelp complained that Google was including Yelp reviews in its own local product without permission.

According to Yelp, Google said it couldn’t remove those reviews without removing Yelp from the index entirely. The dispute was ultimately resolved with FTC intervention. Indeed, the ability to disallow Google to include content in potentially competitive “vertical” offerings while maintaining it in the general index became part of the FTC antitrust settlement with Google and is part of the current EU settlement proposal.

According to a report in the NY Times, Yelp filed a formal complaint in Europe last month:

In May, Yelp�s chief executive, Jeremy Stoppelman, wrote a letter to Jos� Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission . . . about the antitrust proceedings.

�I truly fear the landscape for innovation in Europe is infertile, and this is a direct result of the abuses Google has undertaken with its dominant position,� Mr. Stoppelman wrote in the letter, which was made available by a person who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the correspondence was meant to be private.

European competition commissioner Joaqu�n Almunia has asserted the most recent version of the Google antitrust settlement is all but a done deal. However private companies and European Parliamentarians alike have been calling for it to be revisited and for tougher terms. Almunia appears to be wavering in the face of this ongoing criticism.

Almunia is eager to get a deal with Google done. He’s reportedly stepping down in the fall. If a settlement isn’t reached by then a new antitrust commissioner might be willing to reopen the matter, which undoubtedly would be bad for Google.

The Times explains that “Under European procedure, the commission must consider the latest complaint. Yelp, if its complaint is accepted as part of the continuing case, will also have the right to appeal any eventual settlement with Google.”

Earlier today�Almunia and the EU announced a nearly $600 million fine for French pharma company Servier and five producers of generic drugs. As this illustrates, Almunia and his body have significant authority to fine Google should a settlement not be enacted. Fines still appear quite unlikely however.

Postscript: See our related post,�Leaked Documents Show How Yelp Thinks It�s Not Getting Screwed By Google

5 Best Canadian Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Eldorado Gold Corp(EGO)

Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the discovery, exploration, development, production, and reclamation of gold properties in Brazil, the People?s Republic of China, Greece, and Turkey. It operates the Kisladag gold mine in Turkey; the Jinfeng, Tanjianshan, and White Mountain gold mines in the People?s Republic of China; and the Vila Nova iron ore mine in Brazil. The company?s development projects include the Efemcukuru gold mine in Turkey, the Eastern Dragon gold mine in the People?s Republic of China, the Perama Hill gold project in Greece, and the Tocantinzinho gold project in Brazil. As of December 31, 2010, Eldorado Gold Corporation had 18.7 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves. The company was formerly known as Eldorado Corporation Ltd. and changed its name to Eldorado Gold Corporation in April 1996. Eldorado Gold Corporation was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]

Newmont has dropped 2.2% to $25.73 at 3:02 p.m. While that’s in-line with the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF’s (GDX) 2.2% fall to 23.03, it’s better than the most heavily traded gold-mining stocks. Shares of Barrick Gold (ABX), for instance, have dropped 3.6% to $17.20, Gold Corp (GG) is down 3.1% at $23.54 and Eldorado Gold (EGO) has declined 3.9% to $5.82.

Filmmakers behind “America: Imagine the World Without Her” have accused�Google of keeping their movie’s showtimes and locations from appearing in search results.

As it�turns out, “America” isn’t the only film not getting fair play from the search engine.

Based on our research, if there is a conspiracy theory at work — it’s not exclusive to D’Souza’s “America.” Google doesn’t appear to be a fan of The Four Seasons or evil, either. That’s because after searching the top ten box office movie titles from last weekend, neither “Jersey Boys” nor “Deliver Us from Evil” returned movie showtimes.

Also, to find showtimes on Google for the latest Transformers movie, the search required the full title: “Transformers: Age of Extinction” versus a simple one-word search for “Transformers.”

Bing, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to be as harsh of a movie critic. When searching movie titles for last weekend’s box office hits on Microsoft’s search engine, showtimes displayed within, at least, the top three search results for all ten movies and “America” via www.MSN.com/movies.

Searching Movie Showtimes: Bing versus Google

According to our findings, it’s fair to assume that Google’s not so much trying to keep “America” showtimes out of search results, and probably doesn’t hate the Four Seasons or any movie based on the band’s music.

Google just isn’t as strong as Bing when it comes to movie showtime searches, scoring a 70 percent accuracy rate, compared to Bing, which earned a 100 percent when it came to providing showtimes for the top ten films currently at the box office.

It turns out that those in the European Union asking Google to “forget” links they don’t like that appearing for searches on their names are also getting links removed for any search that involves their names and additional words, rather than just their names alone.

Until now, it wasn’t clear that Google was removing links for more than just names on their own. But the company has confirmed to me that this is the situation.

Filtering For More Than Just The Name

To understand, let’s assume there’s someone named “Emily White” who doesn’t like that a search for her name on Google brings up information about her having gone bankrupt.

White, who let’s say lives in London, makes a request for Google to drop the links under the EU’s Right To Be Forgotten mandate. Google grants this. As a result, the links would no longer show up for these situations:

1) Searches for just “emily white”

2) Searches for her name plus other words, such as “emily white bankrupt” or “emily white london”

Any search involving her name along with other words would have the forgotten links filtered out. White wouldn’t have to provide a list of descriptive terms to go along with her name. Just the presence of her name in a search would be enough to trigger the filtering.

What’s Not Filtered

Filtering only happens for EU-versions of Google. A service like Google.com or Google Canada would be unaffected.

Links are also not filtered if no name is involved. For example, consider these searches:

1) “bankrupt in london”

2) “people in london who have gone bankrupt”

Let’s assume that, for some reason, the links that White objected to were somehow showing up for these very general searches. That’s unlikely, but it is possible. Her request to be forgotten wouldn’t cause them to be dropped for these searches. That’s because the searches don’t involve her name.

It’s also important to understand that if there’s a different “Emily White” with links of some sort that show up, the actions of the first “Emily White” don’t impact the second. Only the links that the first Emily White requested to be removed will be pulled.

In fact, let’s assume there were two different Emily Whites who went bankrupt. We’ll call them Emily1 and Emily 2. Let’s say when you searched on Google UK for “emily white,” you got a link that was only about Emily1, a link only about Emily2 and a link that was about both of them.

Emily1 puts in a request to have the link about her and the link about her and Emily2 pulled. If granted, those links would disappear. However, the link about Emily2 alone would remain. For that to go, Emily 2 would have to put in her own request.

Clearing The Confusion

I‘ve been asking Google for clarification on this point since back in May, when the Right To Be Forgotten as it applies to search results was established. I have to apologize for writing last week that this was applicable to searches involving only names alone, which I’ve since corrected in my�Thanks To �Right To Be Forgotten,� Google Now Censors The Press In The EU�article.

I’d finally gotten an answer back from Google on the question and misread it as saying only names themselves, on their own, were impacted. But Chris Moran, the SEO over at The Guardian, tweeted�to me yesterday that his colleague Charles Arthur had a story Monday where his sources were saying the filtering involved any use of a name.

I tweeted back that this was wrong, based on what I thought Google had told me. But when I did some double-checking, I realized my mistake (and sorry, Chris).